WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR THURSDAY GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO CORONAVIRUS BRIEFING. By John F. Bailey. April 30, 2020 UPDATED 4:45 PM EDT:

The race to create the New York Tracing System to identify in  real time, any rise in coronavirus infections after any reopening occurs is on.

The Subways will be disinfected every night–beginning next week from 1 A.M. to 5 A.M. to protect essential works in a plan, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced this afternoon.

Governor Andrew Cuomo introduced Mike Bloomberg, former Mayor of New York, in a conference today, who explained the details of the tracing program Mr. Bloomberg is creating with his philanthropic organization, and Johns Hopkins Hospital, one week after the Governor named him to create the tracing program.

Mr. Bloomberg SAID in his telephone call  that tracer prospects would be drawn from medical students in New York State and health professionals. The training will be done online. Mr. Bloomberg announced reporting by tracers would be done in real time, reporting contacts with persons identified as testing positive interviewing the new cases for possible persons they may have interacted with previously to their being diagnosed. The tracer will then contact the possible contacts and quarantine them for 15 days, checking in with the contactees for symptoms.

The tracers would track down possible infectees  the positive person may have seen and send those names back to a central system via a second ap. The persons contacted by the infected individual with the coronavirus, would have an  app to impart any symptoms to the centralized system. There would be three apps created.

Governor Cuomo noted that yesterday 4,681 new positives Wednesday, to note how large a scale the tracing system had to be prepared for every day after any reopenings. Mr. Bloomberg said the system, and its manual, training materials would be available to Mayors across the country to help them use the tracing system and also made available to the world.

In an release just in from the Governor’s Press Office, the tracing system was explained in more detail:

First, labs will report positive cases of COVID-19 immediately to contact tracers on a daily basis.

The contact tracer will then interview the positive patient to identify people they may have been in contact with over the past 14 days.

The contact tracer will notify and interview each contact to alert them to their risk of infection and instruct those contacts to quarantine or isolate for 14 days to be sure they don’t spread COVID-19 to others. 

The contact tracers will monitor those contacts by text throughout the duration of their quarantine or isolation to see if the contacts are showing any symptoms.

The program is expected to have 6,400 to 17,000 tracers statewide depending on the projected number of cases. Contact tracing teams will work remotely with state-of-the-art software to develop a secure database of information on the spread of the infection.

To meet the nation-leading scale and scope of this program, Mayor Bloomberg and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health will support the State Department of Health’s initiative to build an army of contact tracers through a three-step process: recruitment, interviewing and training. Bloomberg Philanthropies will help DOH to actively identify and recruit potential contact tracers for the program from State, City and County Health Departments.

There was no information as to when the tracing system would be ready for any possible New York re-opening or how it would be tested. Mayor William DeBlasio of New York City said New York would provide 1,000 health and employees as tracers to start.

The Governor announced a plan had been submitted by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for cleaning all subway cars every day. The plan is beginning in a week, (not tonight ) subways would be closed between 1 AM and 5 A.M. (when 10,000 people ride the trains, the governor said). Transportation for  Essential Workers would be provided by the MTA free, using buses, free vans, or Uber and Lyft cars. Meanwhile the subway cars would have every surface cleaned. Police would supervise each closed station for security.

Mayor DeBlasio said arrangements through outreach to the homeless have been made in order that the problem of vast numbers of homeless sleeping on the subway would be eliminated. The condition of sleeping on the subways was dramatized by front page photos in The Daily News last weekend.

Corona virus statistical indicators resumed declines across the board yesterday, including the Hospitalization Rate.

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WPCNR THE POWER STORY. From Entergy Corporation. April 29, 2020:

Control room operators at Entergy Corporation Indian Point Unit 2 will shut down the reactor Thursday as scheduled for the final time, after more than 45 years of producing clean, safe and reliable power for New York. The other operating unit at the site, Unit 3, is scheduled to permanently shut down by April 30, 2021.

“Over the last 45 years, thousands of dedicated professionals have operated Unit 2 at Indian Point – safely, securely and reliably,” said Chris Bakken, Entergy’s Chief Nuclear Officer. “We owe each of them our thanks for a job well done and for their commitment to the highest standards of professionalism.”

Announced in 2017, the shutdown of both operating units at Indian Point is pursuant to a settlement agreement with the State of New York and was the result of a number of factors, including sustained low current and projected wholesale energy prices that reduced revenues.

As part of its commitment to employees at Indian Point, the company has previously announced a plan to find a position within Entergy for those qualified employees who are willing to relocate. Currently, more than 40 employees from Indian Point have accepted offers to continue with Entergy in other locations.

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WPCNR THE LETTER TICKER. April 29, 2020:

Dear Residents,
As we continue to work through this challenging time, I would like to thank you for the tremendous compliance we have had with social distancing and facial coverings requirements. Your efforts have made a difference and I urge you to keep it up!

I would be remiss if I didn’t also acknowledge the many, many White Plains residents who have contacted us to volunteer in some way — to offer your time, your resources, your expertise. There has always been a strong volunteer spirit in our community.

During this crisis that spirit has shown through in ways large and small.

Finally, I wanted to take a moment to offer my condolences to those residents who have lost a loved one. Such a loss is always hard, but now, because of isolation and quarantine requirements, it is even more difficult.

During this unprecedented time we have once again come together as a community and I have no doubt we will be stronger for it. 
Remember, we are standing together by staying apart.
With my sincere thanks,

Mayor Thomas Roach

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WPCNR Tuesday Governor Andrew M. Cuomo Coronavirus Briefing. By John F. Bailey. April 28, 2020:

The Governor said a number of counties have Coronavirus cases low enough to compare with less impacted states around the country at his briefing this afternoon at Upstate Medical College in Syracuse. Downstate New York was not one of them, yet.

Those counties the Governor showed on a map indicated the number of covid cases would be considered first for reopenings, however those counties wishing to open have to submit a 12-point plan of issues (described Monday) to be addressed, fulfilled, and submitted for state approval before any reopening.

An advisory board on reopenings is being formed of 30 business and community leaders to help craft and evaluate the efficacy of submitted county plans,

The new specifics added to yesterday’s presentation set 2 standards for any reopening county dictating when they must halt any reopening in progress and address a corona spread.

If hospitals in treating patients with Coronavirus or whatever medical situations went over 70% capacity (with 30%  of that capacity reserved to treat serious corona virus patients, this would dictate the county could not continue with the reopening.

The second signal to halt the county reopening would be triggered if the number of new cases indicated infections rose above 1 person to 1 person.

Either condition would  be a “circuit breaker,” Governor Cuomo called it, seeming to indicate perhaps any reopening breaching those hard stops,  would have to slow, stop and install previous efforts to corral the rapid growth of the corona disease again.

A decision on school policy, the Governor said, would be made at the end of this week. Asked about the plan for September, the governor said it was too far ahead to make a decision.

The Reopenings of New York planned will not be a return to a normal summer, either.

Governor Cuomo responding to the first question from a reporter at the “Q & A” asking if open festivals, fairs, waterpark facilities would be allowed, Governor Cuomo said “No they can’t.” Amplying that, the Governor said this included pools, waterparks and beaches, because they create “density.”

Melissa DeRosa, Executive Secretary to the Governor said the backlog of unemployment claims was down to 400,000, and a printing glich of 1,000,000 checks that stuck together while printing, had been identified and was being rectified.

It was announced that the Central New York region was going to have hospitals cleared to accept electoral surgery first, but the Capitol District, Western New York, and Downstate New York would not.

An advisory board on reopenings is being formed of 100 business and community leaders to help craft and evaluate the efficacy of submitted county plans, The members were announced late Tuesday afternoon:

MEMBERS OF NEW YORK FORWARD RE-OPENING ADVISORY BOARD

 Quenia Abreu – President New York Women’s Chamber of Commerce  Elizabeth Alexander – President, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation  Vincent Alvarez – President, NYC Central Labor Council  Ajay Banga – CEO, MasterCard  Kathy Behrens – President, Social Responsibility & Player Programs, National Basketball Association  Bill Berkley – Chair, NYU  Albert Bourla – CEO, Pfizer  Elizabeth Bradley – President, Vassar College  Kyle Bragg – President, SEIU 32BJ  Heather Briccetti – President & CEO, The Business Council  Tory Burch – Executive Chair, Tory Burch LLC  Gerrard P. Bushell – former President and CEO of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY)  James Cahill – President, NYS Building and Construction Trades  Wellington Chen – Executive Director of Chinatown Business Improvement District  Mario Cilento – President, NYS AFL-CIO  Henry Cisneros – Siebert, Brandford, Shank & Co.  Dr. Katherine Conway-Turner – President, SUNY Buffalo State College  Steven M. Cohen – Former Secretary to the Governor  Stacey Cunningham – President, NYSE  Vijay Dandapani – President & CEO, Hotel Association of NYC  Sonya Del Peral – Nine Pin Ciderworks  Mylan Denerstein – Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher  Alicia Fernandez Dicks – President/CEO, Community Foundation of Oneida and Herkimer  James Dolan – CEO, Madison Square Garden  Stacey Duncan – Executive Director, The Agency  Leecia Eve – Vice President of State Government Affairs, Verizon  Bill Ford – CEO, General Atlantic LLC  Jane Fraser – President, Citigroup  Adena Friedman – President & CEO, Nasdaq  Bea Grause – President, Healthcare Association of New York State  Jonathan Gray – President & COO, Blackstone Group  George Gresham – President, 1199SEIU  Horacio Gutierrez – General Counsel, Spotify  Sabrina HoSang Jordan – CEO, Caribbean Food Delights, Inc.  Maria Imperial – CEO, YWCA White Plains & Central Westchester  Shirley Ann Jackson – President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute  Dr. Amarilis Jacobo – President, National Hispanic Dental Association  Jeremy Jacobs Jr – Co-Chief Executive Officer, Delaware North  Michele Johnson – YWCAs of Elmira – President of YWCAs NYS  René Jones – Chair & CEO, M&T Bank  Michel Khalaf – President & CEO, MetLife  Pat Kane – Executive Director, New York State Nurses Association  Gary LaBarbera – President, Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York  Mary Beth Labate – President, Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities  Kevin Law – President & CEO, Long Island Association, Inc.  Jon Ledecky – Co-Owner, NY Islanders  Kewsong Lee – Co-CEO, Carlyle Group  Randy Levine – President, NY Yankees  Mayra Linares-Garcia – VP of Public Affairs and Communications at Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages  Melanie Littlejohn – Chair, Board of Directors, CenterState CEO  Joanie Mahoney – Chief Operating Officer, SUNY ESF  Carl McCall – Former Chair, SUNY Board of Trustees; Former NYS Comptroller  Brenda McDuffie – President & CEO at Buffalo Urban League  Cheryl McKissack Daniel – President & CEO, McKissack & McKissack  Father Joseph McShane – President, Fordham University  Elizabeth Moore – General Counsel, Con Edison  Wes Moore – CEO, Robin Hood  Marc Morial – President & CEO, National Urban League  William J. Mulrow – Former Secretary to the Governor  John McAvoy – Chairman, President & CEO, Con Edison  Danny Meyer – CEO, Union Square Hospitality Group  Dr. Belinda S. Miles – President, SUNY Westchester Community College  Frankie Miranda – President & CEO, Hispanic Federation  Orinthia T. Montague – President, Tompkins Cortland Community College  Candice Niu – Executive Director, China General Chamber of Commerce  Ana Oliveira – President & CEO, The New York Women’s Foundation  Kim Pegula – President and CEO, Pegula Sports and Entertainment  Elizabeth Peralta – Executive Director, National Supermarket Association  Clotilde Perez-Bode Dedecker – President/CEO, Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo  Charles Phillips – Chair, Infor  Martha Pollack – President, Cornell University  Ted Potrikus – President & CEO, Retail Council of New York State  Ken Raske – President, Greater NY Hospital Association  Scott Rechler – CEO & Chairman, RXR Realty  Andrew Rigie – President, NYC Hospitality Alliance  Linda Brown-Robinson – President, Syracuse Onondaga NAACP  Lisa Rosenblum – Vice Chair, Altice  Jane Rosenthal – Co-Founder & CEO, Tribeca Enterprises  Steven Rubenstein – Chairman, Association for a Better New York  Bill Rudin – Rudin Management Company  Kevin Ryan – Co-Founder, MongoDB  Julie Samuels – President, Tech:NYC  Rob Sands – Chairman, Constellation Brands  Theresa Sanders – President of the Urban League of Long Island  Jaime Saunders – CEO, United Way of Greater Rochester  Diane Serratore – Executive Director, Help From People to People  Carlo Scissura – President & CEO, NY Building Congress  Leonard Schleifer – CEO, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals  Josh Silverman – CEO, Etsy  Lisa Sorin – President, Bronx Chamber of Commerce  Rob Speyer – President & CEO, Tishman Speyer  Ty Stone – President, Jefferson County Community College  Ken Sunshine – President, Sunshine Sachs  Steve Swartz – President & CEO, Hearst; Co- Chair, Partnership for NYC  Chandrika Tandon – Chair, Tandon Capital Associates  Elinor Tatum – Publisher and Editor in Chief, New York Amsterdam News  Crickett Thomas-O’Dell – Regional Director, Workforce Development Institute  Bill Thompson – Chairman, CUNY  Merryl Tisch – Chairman, SUNY  Erin Tolefree – Executive Vice President, Baldwin Richardson Foods  Elizabeth Velez – CEO Velez Organization & Chair, NY Building Congress  Fanny Villarreal – Executive Director, YWCA Syracuse Onondaga County  Dennis Walcott – Former NYC School Chancellor  John Waldron – President and COO, Goldman Sachs  Darren Walker – President, Ford Foundation  Peter Ward – President, NY Hotel & Motel Trades Council, AFL-CIO  Nicole Wegman – Senior Vice President, Wegmans  Anthony Welters – Executive Chairman, BlackIvy Group, LLC  Jim Whelan – President, Real Estate Board of New York  Jeff Wilpon – COO, NY Mets  Tren’ness Woods-Black – Sylvia’s Restaurant  Sheena Wright – President & CEO, United Way of New York City  Kathy Wylde – President & CEO, Partnership for NYC  Jo-Ann Yoo – Executive Director, Asian American Federation  Kristine M. Young – President, Orange County Community College  Lourdes Zapata – President & CEO at South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation

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“FLAT IS NOT GREAT. WE DON’T WANT TO SEE FLAT,” GOVERNOR REPORTS. 1,000 NEW HOSPITALIZATIONS SUNDAY.

15.1% HAVE TESTED POSITIVE FOR HAVING CORONA VIRUS IN WESTCHESTER-ROCKLAND IN ANTI-BODY TEST.

CORPORATIONS STEP UP TO BUY MILK AND TURN IT INTO YOGURT, CHEESE, FOR NEW YORK FOOD BANKS. HUNGER PROBLEM SOARING IN STATE. 200% increase in food bank demand in Westchester.

WPCNR MONDAY GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO BRIEFING.  By John F. Bailey. April 27, 2020:

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo reported the number of new Hospitalizations for Corona Virus was flat on Sunday, staying at 1,000 new hospitalizations a day. There were 337 deaths reported Sunday from the disease, in the news conference, he pointed out the number of deaths in New York City had been held to  ½% of the New York City population. He said the daily death rate “continued still tragically high.”

The Governor reported the second week of results of the ongoing anti-bodies survey,on 7,500 people tested at random that showed the percentage of persons by New York region who have had the coronavirus. 14.9% have tested positive in the 7,500 sampled across state the last two weeks. Here is the breakdown for the New York metropolitan area for percentage of persons with coronavirus antibodies:

Long Island-14% positive

New York City-24.7% positive

Westchester-Rockland- 15.1% positive

Rest of the State: 3.2%

He noted the Latino population has the most corona virus cases 10% higher, and he wants to find out why.

He outlined what upstate Counties hoping to be cleared for opening should be doing now: developing policies in the following areas.

1. Confirming they had fit the CDC standards for Reopening.
2. Businesses (construction and manufacturing) they would reopen.
3. Business practices the businesses selected would put in place to maintain social distancing, work practices, policies to avoid spread of the coronavirus
4. Analysis of hospital capacity to handle increase in coronavirus cases
5. Testing program: For the Disease, Auto-Body Testing.
6. Tracing contacts of new coronavirus cases
7. Isolation policies of new coronavirus cases.
8. How they plan to bring back schools, transportation and introduce testing in those places
9. Stage no large scale “nuisance” attractions (that would attract people coming into the area.
10. Establish a Rapid Control Room to monitor the “Dials” of leading daily statistics the state uses to be aware of the disease progress. This “Control Room” would have to be a board of professionals “where everybody agrees on the numbers.”
11. Finally the county plans would have to “fit in with the state standards,” and meet the state approval.

The governor announced the state had a very serious hunger problem, and that he was devoting $25 Million to store up food banks. He announced that  Cabrel and Chobani and three other organizations were going to purchase excess milk from New York farmers who have been dumping milk because they could not sell it. The rescued milk would be turned into milk products such as yogurt , sour cream, cheese and distributed to food banks. He requested philanthropies to help.

In the news release just out, he says, ” 200 percent increase in Westchester, 100 percent increase New York City, 40 percent on Long Island, 40 to 60 percent across Upstate New York. So we’re going to commit $25 million for emergency funding for those food banks. I’m also asking philanthropies to help.”

He said that testing would be extended to 1,000 firefighters and 1,000 police  in various counties.: “We’re going to be doing a survey of New York City fire department and New York City police department. This week, 1,000 and 1,000 respectively, just to find out again with the antibody testing, what is the infection rate. NYPD was out there every day and they paid a terrible toll. The attendance rate is now good again, many were out sick.

But we want to know exactly where those frontline workers are, if they have been infected, we want to make sure people are getting help and we want to know exactly what happened.

We’ll also be doing 3,000 healthcare workers, these are hospital staff, nursing staff, doctors who are in the emergency rooms, to find out their situation. And we’ll be doing 1,000 transit workers. These are the bus drivers, the train operators, who keep the public transit system working and we want to do testing to find out how they’re doing. “

The Governor said he was going to  discuss with Westchester County Executive George Latimer  the possibility of keeping the Westchester County Center extra beds available in the fall to fight a possible flu outbreak in the autumn or a return of the coronavirus.  The Governor said he would discuss keeping the Javitts Center open for use as a hospital backup facility for the same reason.

In closing his daily report, Governor Cuomo thanked Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear:

“Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear stood up, said to his senior senator in the state, Mitch McConnell that Mitch McConnell was wrong on saying he wouldn’t provide funding to state and local governments and wrong in saying states should go bankrupt.

It is hard for a governor, especially Andy, who is a relatively new governor, to stand up to a senior official and speak truth to power. That is hard. Takes guts. Takes courage. And you don’t get that from a typical politician. So, it warms my heart to see an elected official who is not a typical politician. Thank you, Governor.”